Physico-chemical, biochemical and microbiological characterization of shea butter, <em>Vitellaria paradoxa</em> in Burkina Faso

Shea oil or shea butter is a food product from shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) kernels manufactured traditionally by women in sub-African rural areas. It can be used directly for cooking or served as a raw material for the food and cosmetic industries. The aim of this study was to promote the use of natural shea butter through a better knowledge of the quality characteristics. Samples from 07 geographical provinces of Burkina Faso were collected for minera, physico-chemical and microbiological analyses using standard methods. analyses such as Percentage of moisture and dry matter, insoluble impurities in hexan, acid, iodine, refractive and peroxide indexes were perormed. In addition, density, melting point and minerals content (Cu, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, Zn, K) were measured. Microbiological parameters such as total aerobic flora, yeast and molds, enterobacteria and presumed Staphylococcus aureus counts were also determined on agar specific media. Results showed that moisture contents varied from 0.06 to 2.81 %, acid values varied from 2.44 and 5.68 mgKOH/g, while iodine indexes and impurities contents varied from 40.70 to 46.66 gI2/100g and from 0.31 to 1.87 % respectively. Concerning mineral contents, Cu had the lowest values (0.23 to 0.66 mg/kg), while with K the highest values were observed (1921.50 to 4117.50 mg/kg). Most of the parameters were within acceptable ranges according to the regional guidelines. Microbiological analyses showed that the samples of shea butters could be considered safe for use with microbial counts within satisfactory ranges. Most of these artisanally manufactured shea butter samples could be used as intrant for the food or cosmetic industries. Therefore it would be useful to locally implement modern processing units in order to increase the added value of shea butter production.